Health Equity (Lee-Harvard Initiative): GCC started planning its door-to-door work in the Lee-Harvard neighborhood in May, and began its canvassing on June 17th. DeMario Steele and Chastity Roman are coordinating the effort.
Battle for Democracy: GCC youth and staff met with Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration on May 6th to outline a strategy with our youth on career track development. GCC representatives also met with Cleveland Councilman Richard Starr regarding the Central Neighborhood on May 21st. GCC’s gerrymandering campaign concluded with a collection of 13,000 signatures. This is less than the 20,000 goal that GCC set, but the campaign ended signature collection one month earlier due to Cuyahoga County far exceeding its collection goals. UUCC was a big part of this effort, and we extend our heartfelt thanks to all who participated!
The Battle for Democracy team also has upcoming meetings with Cleveland City Councilman Starr and Ryan Puente from Mayor Bibb’s office in July to address Ward 5 issues from our Cleveland Neighborhoods Next Campaign as well as youth career development.
TIF (Tax Increment Financing): GCC is continuing to research TIF district financing and our organization’s own position on support for our Battle for Democracy neighborhoods. Scott Keller from Dynamis presented a draft proposal for the five neighborhoods for review.
Pretrial Justice Team and May 7th Action: The action was a critical success! Over 514 people attended in person at Olivet Institutional Baptist Church or via Zoom. UUCC’s very own Pat Dillard and Sharnell Woods will now be co-leading that Pretrial Justice Team, along with Olivet’s Rev. Jawanza Colvin. The Team met on June 18th to develop next action steps. Look for additional details and updates soon.
Youth Bindover: GCC leaders also attended the June 14th Ohio Public Defender commission meeting to push the commission to investigate the juvenile judges court assignment of outside legal counsel (as opposed to counsel from the Public Defender’s Office) for youth offenders. The action began at 8:15am with a prayer vigil in the plaza in front of the building where the hearing was held.
Individual Donor Campaign: The 2024 GCC Impact Campaign is under way. Our goal this year is to raise $110,000.
Thank you to all who have participated in the actions, petition signings, or personally contributed to GCC’s Impact Campaign!
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